‘Paliosinitheies’ (Bad Habits in English) is Greece’s largest ‘Opportunity’ or ‘Op Shop’ – as we Aussies call it.
Founder and boss, Ada (Adamantia) Pana, calls her 3,150sqm, four-storey, ex-meat processing factory “a Thrift and Antique store.”
Paliosinitheies has been in operation at its current premises for 16 years, in which time sales include not only local buyers, but quite a few from afar too: “A Korean film company bought stuff from us for one of their series’… as has Netflix and many Greek TV shows, like Greece’s ‘Survivor’ reality series.”
Speaking of TV series’, Ada is one of the panel in the Greek ‘Cash or Trash’ (akin to Australia’s ‘Cash 4 Trash’) which has led to her celebrity status.
“I don’t care for fame or money. Fair enough, I want a decent house, and I must admit I’m mad about motorbikes and cars, but now I don’t want as many of those as I used to have,” she says.
Her – and her business’ founding story – is a fascinating one. I say ‘one’, as the two, Ada and Paliosinitheies, seem to meld into one.
“I’ve lived a full and many times turbulent life, particularly in my youth. This included a series of addictions and somewhat dangerous risk taking, but I cleaned myself up, got married to a man, had a son – my wonderful son who’s now 30. My life hasn’t been and isn’t, let’s say uneventful nor conformist, and this abides by my work/business philosophy,” Ada says.
“My business started as an Interior Designer but during the Greek crisis in 2008, it went under. Things were tough, so sometimes I’d collect wood for a fire from rubbish bins where I’d find other old bits and pieces, like various furniture that people had discarded as rubbish. Well, I’d collect them too, and paint them and decorate them, and then people began wanting to buy them, so that was basically it, until I opened the current Paliosinitheies.”
Apart from being extremely charismatic and honest, Ada is also humble as I prompt her to mention that she has also studied Interior Design and worked on reputable projects before the crisis hit. Her business savvy and leadership / boss skills were also inadvertently displayed during our interview, when she once or twice apologised to me in order to give directives to her busy and very capable staff. Ada is also a kind hearted and wise woman.
“I chose to name my business Paliosinitheies – Bad Habits, because I believe that we should never discard anything or anyone. It’s kinda metaphorical, but like people, objects have a history, a patina, a wabi-sabi if you like. You don’t toss them out, you try to make the best of things because that’s the core beauty of life,” she says.
I get her gist as new things, particularly in today’s mass produced markets, almost encourage a buy-discard-buy cycle. Luckily that’s changing with more of a recycling focus and also since new products made from more traditional materials such wood, metals and clay are too expensive for many to afford.
On another level, thrift or Op Shop stuff like old wooden furniture for example, exude stories of someone’s life, of their circumstances, inspiring and arousing interest and awe in the human, beyond the material: not to mention the more often than not uniqueness and better craftsmanship of such products too.
The products of Paliosinitheies incorporate many eras and subsequent styles and include a plethora
of every type of furniture piece and ‘decorative’ item you can imagine… and more, such as a gynecologists table, and a ‘torture’ chair from a film set, and the less ‘kinky’ oriented, pinball machine, though one never knows. Oh, and there’s the dodgem car which Ada bargained hard for in Cash or Trash, and got! There are also traditional Greek items, and smaller knickknacks such as various ornaments, rugs, lamps, plate sets, etc.
Laughing, she tells me of a trunk for sale in her shop that she hadn’t properly “searched” after cleaning, where the buyer found hundreds of euros in its base.
Becoming more solemn she says, “imagine the stories of these chests – migrations, goodbyes, starting again and often returning for whatever heart wrenching reason.”
She then looks into the distance, and tells me about the letters: “We also have letters found in furniture drawers, and even in old shoe boxes for example, that tell of people’s loves and lives. This is what interests me most – the human factor; the light but also the darkness of people.”
Returning to the present, Ada continues: “Most things here in my store are from Greece, but there are also quite a few products from my travels abroad. I go to France and Belgium quite a bit and bring stuff back. We sell things at Paliosinitheies at the best low prices, and of course don’t make distinctions between celebrities who come here, nor members of the public.
“We respect all our customers, and this may have something to do with the fact that myself and my staff have had our share of interesting, turbulent lifestyles before turning it all around and making the Paliosinitheies business our primary world of paliosinitheies!”
I thank Ada and wish her the very best, while with blue eyes twinkling and a smile she reminds me, “we can ship to Australia too.” There you have it! Bad habits turned thrifty and good!
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